Shooting Star
by Tigris
Summary: Coming home from the Tamuli empire, Talen is the first to see what appears to be a shooting star falling from the sky. Very first FF. please R&R. thanks
1. Chatper 1: Falling Star

Gravity was the first thing she felt. It pulled her down without the need of the straps that, though she cold not feel, she knew were there. The nerves in her body turned back on, one by one, tingling incessantly. Her skin felt stretched and swollen as the sluggish blood expanded, moved by a feeble beat from an unfreezing heart.  
  
Kay mentally ground her teeth, having no control over her physical body, as she endured the first, painful stages of cryogenic reawakening.  
  
****  
  
"Sparhawk!"  
  
Sparhawk squinted as he followed young Talen's gesture. A shot of flame was falling across the sky. At first he thought it was a shooting star, but instead of disappearing it fell into the ocean some miles away. A great cloud of steam rose, an intense whistling and crackling came a few seconds later. Still slightly awed by the experience, the cry from the crow's nest made Sparhawk and Talen jump.  
  
"Tidal wave!" the man screamed.  
  
Captain Sorgi swore as he put his periscope to his eye. "Take cover" he bellowed, then began giving orders at lightning speed.  
  
Sparhawk could not see the wave with his eyes, but a cloud of thick fog was steadily moving towards them, growing larger every second. Grabbing Talen by the back of his tunic he threw him towards the hatch. From below he could hear his wife call out.  
  
"Sparhawk, what's happening?"  
  
Sparhawk jumped through the hatch, skipping the stairs and landing heavily. Sailors were pouring in behind him. As Sparhawk made his way to Ehlana, Danae held tightly in her arms, he saw Sorgi himself come below and the hatchway was sealed. Danae did not acknowledge her father as he lifted her from her mother's grasp. Her eyes were wide and unfocussed.   
  
"Everyone, go further below, lie down on the floors," Sorgi yelled. The message was mainly for his passenger's benefit, as the sailors were already getting into storm positions. Pushing Ehlana in front of him, Sparhawk descended further into the ship. They lay on the floor where the sailors pointed. Not far away Kalten held a weeping Alean.   
  
"Danae," Sparhawk whispered in his daughter's ear, "what's happening?" When Danae did not respond he shook her anxiously, worried that she had somehow become injured.  
  
"Father, stop that. I'm trying to concentrate."  
  
It seemed to last forever, the tossing, the roar of water crashing against the ship, the groan of wood. Everyone expected that the ship would be torn apart. Eventually however the sounds and motion subsided. People put their heads up and looked around, stunned.   
  
"So that's why things are bolted down," Sparhawk heard someone saw. Others chuckled in response.   
  
"Is it over?" Ehlana asked.   
  
"I don't know," Sparhawk answered. Danae nodded slightly. "I think so. Stay here." He returned Danae to Ehlana's arms and followed the sailors to the deck. 


	2. Chapter 2: Expedition

Sorgi stood on deck already, one hand resting lightly on the main mast. He turned as Sparhawk approached him.   
  
"She lost all her sails, but her masts are still in tact," he said reverently. "It's a miracle really that we weren't pulled apart." Excited shouts came from the bow of the ship. Sparhawk and Sorgi raced to see what had been discovered. Sorgi took out his periscope and then after looking through it a moment, passed it to Sparhawk.   
  
"Look to shore," he said.  
  
Sparhawk trained his sight along the tidal wave-damaged shore. Several miles down, the earth seemed to have exploded, great crests of shining sand surrounded whatever had fallen from the sky. The object still glowed red. "What do you think it is?" he asked.  
  
Sorgi shrugged his shoulders. "Rocks have fallen out of the sky before, but I've never heard of something that large. It must be huge to have left such a path."   
  
"I guess we'd better check it out," Sparhawk suggested.  
  
It took two days to find a port that had not been completely-damaged by the tidal wave. When Sorgi's vessel pulled in, his sailors manning the giant oars, the curious townspeople came out to greet them. Sorgi became an instant hero, and told tales of a days long struggle to save his ship in the storm. Sea monsters and a notion of being lashed to the main mast, determined to stay on deck found their ways into the story after the third or fourth retelling. His passengers were happy to leave the ship and took shelter in a comfortable inn. Danae spoke privately with her father as he prepared to lead a small group to investigate the falling star.   
  
"I don't think you should bring Kalten. Sometimes he's just a little too rash. This may need a little more delicacy." She pondered.   
  
"Why does this need delicacy? If there is any danger out there, I'd feel more assured having Kalten with me." Sparhawk disagreed.   
  
"Take Berit. He's as good. And take Talen."  
  
"What? Not at all. Talen stays behind."   
  
"Hmph." Danae seemed ready to fight his refusal, then shrugged her shoulders and went on. "Then take Khalad. You need someone smart, although…"  
  
"You seem to know what we're going to need. What exactly landed there Danae, what's going on. "   
  
Danae shrugged. "How should I know, it's not like I'm omnipresent or some thing." She gave her father a wink.   
  
Sparhawk sighed. "Fine I'll take Berit and Khalad. Someone should stay behind anyway to help the ladies. Talen stays behind too though. He's far too curious for his own good."   
  
"Whatever you think is best father," Danae flashed Sparhawk a winsome smile then wandered back into the inn to find her mother.  
  
The next morning, Sparhawk, Khalad and Berit started out on their expedition. It wouldn't take them long to get to the crash site, as they could take a more direct route over land. When they set up for their first night beside the road Berit, who had been sent out to scout the area came back with a grinning Talen ridding at his side.   
  
"Chance meeting you on the road Sparhawk. I was just out for a little fresh air, and must have lost my way."   
  
"Sorry Sparhawk, I don't know he managed to stay behind us without me noticing."  
  
Sparhawk had a good idea how Talen was able to follow them unobserved, and not thanks to his natural stealthlike abilities. "It's allright Berit, I wasn't whollefy unexpecting him anyway."   
  
Talen's grin faded at that, to be replaced by a slightly suspicious look.  
  
"Well younger brother," Khalad called "might as well start making yourself useful. Set up the fire."  
  
The next afternoon the four men reached the crash site. The track of destruction went several 100 meters into land. Crests of baked earth rose up like frozen waves. At the apex, the earth ridge was a good 10 meters high. Sparhawk and the others tied up their horses and began the climb. Before they had gotten very far a high voice called down to them.  
  
"What took you so long?"   
  
"Aphrael!" Talen called, smiling. Berit and Khalad smiled as well.  
  
Sparhawk Aphrael murmured in his head. Tell Khalad not to come up here. He shouldn't see this.  
  
Sparhawk cocked his eyebrow at that, then turned to Khalad.   
  
"Stay down here with the horses and our equipment, let us know if someone comes," he said.  
  
Khalad looked suspiciously at Sparhawk but shrugged his shoulders and climbed back down.   
  
Sparhawk, Berit and Talen continued their climb to join Aphrael at the summit. What they saw there took their breath away.  
  
"Is it safe to get out?" Samuel asked pulling the oxygen mask from his face. The air had finally cooled to an acceptable level. The past two days had been hell, she and the remaining members of the crew had awoken from their cryogenic sleep to searing air and a crashed ship. The well insulated chambers had luckiy kept them alive though just barely. A few chambers had smashed in the crash, and the occupants had been burned to death on the inside. There were only a few occupied chambers however, most of the crew having died in the numerous explosions that had rocked the ship during their escape from (don't know yet). Only four crew members remained out of an original 21. Samuel now held the highest ranking status, putting him in charge.   
  
"The pressure in the infirmary is a little higher than normal, but has remained constant, considering the damage that means we've equilibrated with the outside. As well, the oxygen levels have remained constant though again, higher than normal, we're breathing the planet's atmosphere." Kay responded checking the instrument panel beside her chamber.   
  
"that was pure luck then, seeing that planet, which I'm guessing we successfully managed to land on. Not logged, didn't show up on our scans for days, except one brief blink…" Samuel shook his head, it didn't make sense, but they were alive, wasn't much use to argue the point. "How long was the trip?"   
  
"impossible to tell" Davidson said from his own chamber. "not as long as we expected though. It was the crash that began our resurrection, not our pretimed schedule. That means we're somewhere within the first 1000 hours. We shouldn't have reached the planet, if it was there, for a few earth months at the rate we were going. Maybe we've landed somewhere else."  
  
"That's too unlikely. One planet not showing up on sensors is enough of an anomaly having one in visual distance not show up would be nearly impossible." We'll worry about that later though. We're going to have to get out of here soon. There aren't many emergency rations left in tact, and we're nearly out of water. The air you say is breathable?" Samuel questioned Kay.  
  
Kay nodded her head in the affirmative, though her oxygen mask was still firmly secured to her face.   
  
Davidson and the fourth crew member, Lilith removed their oxygen masks as well. Sniffing tentatively. Lilith stepped from her chamber and hot stepped across the floor.   
  
"ooch, ouch… it's not too bad, if you move quickly enough it doesn't burn much." She called before she stepped out of the infirmary.  
  
Davidson and Samuel followed her out of their chambers and began to survery the supplies available to them in the room. "Collect what you can," Samuel told Davidson and Kay, "I'm going to check on what's left of the ship."  
  
Samuel quickly started piling things together in his abandoned chamber. Med kits, data devices, emergency rations, etc. Kay watched him from her chamber still fidgeting with the instrumentation beside her chamber. Samuel and Lilith returned sometime later with their own parcels of salvaged parts. "Are you ready?" he asked the two.  
  
Davidson nodded in the affirmative, grabbing the things he had bound together. Kay adjusted her own parcel of portable solar collectors and a data mine that had somehow been left behind, probably by a bored patient sometime in the past.   
  
"I found a hatchway that appears to be operational, with a manual opening device. If we're lucky, it's not blocked from the outside, but right now it's the only way I see of getting out, short of cutting through the bulk heads." Lilith reported.   
  
"Well then," Samuel sighed "why don't we take a look at this planet we've crashed on." 


	3. Chapter 3: Contact

It has been a LONG time since I've written any of this. And it's changed a lot from the form I have on paper. I think it's better, in the ideas, but certainly needs some editing. I couldn't edit this piece though. It's too recently done. But I needed to post. Hope you like the continuation.....  
  
Chapter 3 Contact  
  
"What is it?" Sparhawk asked the child Goddess. The structure before them was no rock. Was nothing he had ever seen before. The last few years however had acclimatized him to the unexpected and instead of shock he registered only suspicious curiosity.   
  
"It's a ship," Aphrael answered sitting on the ground, chin resting on her folded up knees.  
  
"Doesn't look like any ship I've seen before" Talen said "Is it like the one that took us to get the bhellium?"  
  
"Yes and no" Aphrael responded cryptically. She made no attempt to explain her answer further.  
  
"It's not shaped right to float on water" Khalad's voice came from behind them.   
  
Aphael turned and gave him a disgruntled glare. "I thought I told you to stay below" she grumbled.  
  
"No, actually Sparhawk told me to stay where I was, and I'm use to disobeying him. If YOU had told me, I would have behaved myself, divine one." His grin was innocent and very reminiscent of Talen's. The two were more alike than many gave them credit.  
  
Aphrael sighed and rolled her eyes.  
  
"So what now?" Sparhawk asked. Aphrael's lack of alarm calmed his sense of danger, but her insistence on being vague was making him feel very naked without his armor.   
  
"I don't know." Aphrael responded with a shrug. "My family never really discussed this possibility. Except to make sure it doesn't happen. I sometimes forget how far behind you are from the others. Which is exactly how we like it actually. Something like this was never supposed to happen, not for several thousand years"  
  
"You're not making much sense. what wasn't supposed to happen"  
  
"Contact"  
  
Aphrael went quiet for a while leaving the four men to simply stare at the massive object submerged in the earth. The object wasn't of any material they could describe. Khalid thought it was some sort of metal, looking at the way it had deformed. Strange symbols seemed drawn on at certain locations, though what they may have original appeared as was indecipherable because of the scorch marks. Though they could only make out a few hundred meteres square of the object, the size of the disruption around it suggested that the majority was hidden from view.  
  
Sparhawk was discouraging Khalad and Talen from crawling down towards the object when Berit yelled out to them from further along the rim of the destruction crater.   
  
"Something's happening!" He pointed towards a section of the vast metal like surface which seemed to be receeding inwards. A portal appeared to be opening, accompanied by groans and metallic shrieks.  
  
Aphrael was quickly on her feet. "Um. Perhaps we should take some cover"  
  
"Okay, that should do it." Samuel signaled to Davidson to stop. Davidson collapsed greatfully against the manual port wheel.  
  
"It looks like we've managed to land in a crater" Kay whispered from one side of the half opened port.  
  
"More like the crater landed around us," Lilith smiled.  
  
Kay checked the gauges on her hybernation suit that she still had not removed. "Radiation is just from the ship. Breathable atmosphere."   
  
"Seems safe enough then" Lilith said as she flipped up her visor and took in a deep breath. And promptly coughed. Samuel grabbed her by the shoulders and slammed her visor back in place. Lilith laughed. "It's okay" she assured him "just a little too fresh for my liking. And something else. Tangy sort of"  
  
Davidson lifted his visor and breathed deeply. "The sea!!!" He exclaimed excitedly than poked his head out the portal. Samuel yanked him back, perhaps too hard as Davidson flew backwards to hit the opposite wall.   
  
"Damn it!" Samuel said. "You're all going to get us killed. We have no idea where we are, or what's out there. The next person to do something rash is going to ..." Samuel spung back to the portal unable to think of a suitable penalty. "Kayra, scan the area. see if you detect anything "  
  
Kay pulled a compact unit from her pack. " I don't know what you're expecting me to look for. All I'll be able to see is what is in this crater. " Stepping back from the portal she knelt to the ground and put the device to her eyes, scanning along the rim of teh crater. "Well that's interesting. We seem to have an audience." She flipped the binoculars from heat sensing to visual. "Wow" she breathed.  
  
"What is it" Samuel asked, kneeling down beside her.   
  
"Humanoids, 4 that I can see. Three males, no wait, there's a fourth further along. and a female child. But her heat register is off. She's humanoid, but not human. Perhaps a mutant of some sort." She handed the unit to Samuel.  
  
"Well, not an army. Probably a family group of some sort."   
  
"What do we do now?" Davidson asked.  
  
Samuel gave the unit back to Kay and stood beside the portal again, staying out of view of those outside. "We make contact."   
  
"And who's going to do that."  
  
"Well they've only seen the one of us at most." Samuel mused to himself, then he turned to smile at Davidson " So I guess that honor falls to you."  
  
Codes of contact had first been implemented, not for the design with which it had been intended, but to contact fellow human beings. In the first century of experimental space channels, intrepid travellers, entire colonies of them, departed Earth's solar system searching for new life and new lives. What the colonists found instead was that their solar system was littered with wormholes. After the first thousand or so vessels suddenly dissapeared Earth became more cautious, feeling out tentatively and mapping the network. Forutnaltely some vessels returned through the wormhole chance allowing them to have the proper conditions to make the pass. But most, without understanding of how the network worked, found themselves alone in the universe.   
  
Humans are a resilient species though, and the million or so people on each ship, now scattered across the galaxy searched for ways to survive on their own. In the next several hundred years humans became experts at navigating the networks. Where some holes led to deep space, old colonist vessels were also found. Some of these vessels contained the great great great grandchildren of the first explorers. Other vessels were ghost ships not having the supplies or the management skills to allow the passengers to survive through generations. And now and then planets were found that had a flourishing human civilization. These civilizations ranged in degrees from technologically advanced, some further than the explorers who rediscovered them, to incredibly backward, living as ancient humans had once done.   
  
As these expatriots were found and took up again into the fold of humanity the Code of Contact was formed. The alien life that had been the dream of humanity to meet, to know that they were not alone, was never realized. Even the non-humanoid civilizations found, were mutated descendents of the early colonists. In time treaties and accords were made among the planets and colonial vessels, now worlds of their own. While for the most part the galaxy was too large to ever be really goverened, rules were set up to prevent mutual annhiliation. Competition is the natural state of humanity, and competition most often established itself in the form of war. or fear. The peaceful, enlightened society that the ancestors of the first earth had taken so long to achieve could not take hold when survival had to be thought of first. Aware of this, first earth was asked to form a set of rules. And to enforce those rules as heavily as necessary. There were to be only very few though, so as not to tempt humanity to break them in their quest for survival. The first rule was the code of contact.  
  
"What are they doing now?" Sparhawk asked talen. Talen was using the blade of a finely polished knife to watch the now open hole in the mysterious vessel.   
  
"Someone's coming out I think," he said, squinting. "I can't tell if it's the person from before, but this time he's coming full out. He's sitting down or something. It's hard to tell."  
  
From behind them over the ridge they heard a voice call out in a foreign language.  
  
"He's saying hello" Aphrael translated to them. She was biting her lip anxiously, not something really in character. "I'd better go. I probably shouldn't be here for this." with that, she vanished.  
  
Sparhawk swore. 'What am I supposed to do?' he said allowed in his head, knowing Aphrael would hear.   
  
'Go down and talk to him. I need to go talk to my family and the others.'  
  
'Talk to them!?'   
  
'Well, not talk i guess. Communicate. I don't think they'll kill you. As long as you don't do anything funny. These people are intelligent, think of yourself as a diplomat to a new culture.' Aphrael didn't respond to his further requests for information on the people below. Again the man's voice, atleast it sounded like a man, called out from in the crater. It did not sound hostile, though not exactly friendly either. There was a patient, but firm note to the voice.   
  
Sparhawk sighed then got to his feet. Khalad hissed at him and got to his feet as well, training his crossbow on the person in the crater. Sparhawk quickly reached out and forced Khalad's arm up. "Aphrael told me to do this. Communicate. Apparently they don't intend on killing us. Not right now anyway. Let's not give them something to change their minds." The man below was sitting on the ground a blanket of some sort with objects assorted on it. He was sitting very still watching with some trepidation the exchange between the men on the ridge. He was ready to react, but did not. For now he waited. Khalad lowered his cross bow, but held it in one hand.   
  
"Are you sure you know what youi're doing".  
  
Sparhawk wanted to laugh at that, but decided now was not the best time. "Just stay here, and keep your eyes open." Sparhwak spoke a bit louder so that Berit and Talen could hear as well, though he continued to look at Khalad "The rest of you stay down. They may not have seen you yet. If you are spotted, no quick moods, don't show aggression. Let's try to be... diplomatic." 


	4. Chapter 4: Communication

Sparhawk half climbed, half slid down the interior of the crater towards the waiting man. At the base he stopped his advance and spread his arms wide to show he held no weapon. The effect was slightly put off by the large sword still belted at his side. The stranger spread his arms out to show he had no weapon either, and from what Sparhawk could see, it didn't appear as though he had anything dangerous. The man then indicated the ground in front of him, as if asking him to join him where he sat. Sparhawk let out the breath he had been holding with a controlled exhale, then stepped forward and sat.

'You're doing well' came a tiny voice in Davidson's ear. Samuel was walking him through the code by radio. It didn't matter that often the contact didn't themselves know the codes of contact, they had been designed for exactly that situation. A global understanding of expectations and intentions. The first step had been to come out of a defensive situation. The next to acknowledge the contact. When acknowledgment had been in return received, both would show their intentions, hostile or not. That was the tricky point. There was no way to know what the otherside wanted to do. Luckily for Davidson the contact showed the sign of non-aggression. Davidson sighed in relief at that point and had responded in kind. Asking the contact to join him brought him to his current step.

'Offer the food package with both hands.' Samuel's voice said.

Davidson lifted one of the food packets in front of him, and extended it with both hands. Using both hands allowed the contact to concentrate on what was offered, rather than be wary of what the other hand might be doing. The man hesitated for a moment then accepted the packet, also with both hands. There was a let-go of breath through Davidson's ear piece. 

'We're lucky. This man seems to have some concept of contact. Perhaps it's just common sense; even better. he probably doesn't know what he's holding. Judging by his clothes, he's pre-artificial fibers. Open your pack and eat it'

Davidson did as he was requested, offering words of encouragement. "Food" he said "Good". Davidson opened the packet, showing how as he did so, and slowly ate the contens. He patted his stomach and mumbled "mmm" for extra effect. 

'Don't over do it'

The man opened his packet and brought the contents to his mouth. He delicatly sniffed then placed a small amount between his teeth. He chewed slowly and thoughtfully, a slight grimace crossed his face, quickly to be removed. He swallowed the piece, nodded his head and spoke a word in his native tongue. 

In the shuttle Kay was excitedly scanning the word the stranger had said through her data mine. There was no match with any stored language. She sighed and entered the word with the possible translations of "good", "food" and "thanks". It was a start. She shrugged her shoulders at Samuel.

'No language match. Too bad. Ok the next step... What is it?'

Davidson smiled at the man as he waited for the next step to be relayed to him. He could hear the others arguing, their voices muffled by their distance from the transciever. Samuel came back to him.

'We've got a problem'

Sparhawk chewed on the remainder of the food the stranger had given him. He studied the other mans face, trying to keep his own calm and friendly. The strangers eyes seemed to focus in and out, as if his concentration was being shared between himself and something else. Sparhawk knew what that was like, having talked with Aphrael or Sephrenia through his thoughts. He wondered if a similar thing was happening. His suspicion drew his attention to the ship where undoubtedly others were waiting out of sight. Sparhawk compared this to having Berit and Talen remain unseen, and decided there was no inherent hostility in their hiding at the present time. Looking back at the stranger, Sparhawk began to reconsider that notion. THe stranger's eyes had grown very wide, whatever else had his attention was causing him significant distress. The stranger focussed in again on Sparhawk and spoke out loud again. These words were not given in the same friendly manner as before. Though not hostile, there was a sense of urgency. Holding his hands out in the sign of holding no weapons, he got to his feet. Sparhawk was immediately on his own. The stranger reached out to him and Sparhawk yanked away, startled. The man was still talking, his effort to remain calm failing. He reached for him again and turned him away, to face the crater wall. Sparhawk had had enough at this point. He stepped back and drew his sword. "What do you want?" he demanded.

The stranger sighed and spoke again, though not to him. Out of the hole in the vessel three other strangers emerged. Two of them held small boxes in outstretched hands. Though he didnt' know what the objects were, the way they held them indicated weapons of some sort, and they were ready to use them. 

"Khalad, get them in your sights, but don't fire" Sparhawk yelled. The situation was bad, but perhaps it could still be resolved. THe man he had sat with still held his hands out stretched in the sign of no weapon from before, and was talking to him as if urging him to move up the crater. 

A woman holding one of the weapons yelled out. The man before him turned to her quickly, a not of pleading in his voice. A third, another stranger holding the strange weapon barked back and a light shot out from the object he held. 

"Sparhawk, " Talen's voice rang out from above "They've shot my brother!"

Sparhwak looked quickly up to see Talen and Berit sliding down the crater, weapons out. One of the strangers yelled out. The force of his voice and the destruction of a small patch of earth before them stopped their advance. Looking back at the stranger Sparhawk found himself the target of the female strangers weapon. The other weapon was trained on Berit. The stranger with which he had originally sat with was calling out to all of them at once it seemed, his arms still held out. Talen was watching him closely. 

"Hey. What is it. Tell me if you have something to say" he yelled at the man.

The stranger turned to Talen. He seemed to size him up then began using his hands and a weakening voice in effort to communicate something apparently very important. Talen watched the man, squinting in concentration. The stranger pointed back at the ship then shot his arms out in a violent random motion. He accompanied the arm gesture with a sound. Not words, Sparhawk figured, but a sound effect. It sounded like...

"An Explosion!" Talen yelled "Sparhawk, I think something really bad is going to happen soon with that ship!"

Sparhawk agreed. He sheathed his sword then called out to Berit and Talen. "Get back to the horses." The strangers were already starting to clamber up the side. Berit and Talen reached the top first. Talen bent over his brother "He's unconcious, Berit help me." The husky young man bent and picked khalad up, throwing him over his shoulder. Sparhawk was soon at the top with them and turned to watch the progress of the strangers. Three of the strangers reached the top and began to ran down the other side. Their fourth companion still struggled up the side, already obviously winded. The stranger he had sat with stopped and called back to his companion, he also was panting heavily. The struggling woman feebly called back. The climb was steep and high but Sparhawk was surprised at how much difficulty it was providing to the strangers. The others had already reached the horses. The two strangers were running further, calling back over their shoulders. Sparhawk swore then bent down, grabbed the struggling woman's arm and pulled her up the remaining distance. Throwing her over his shoulder he ran towards the others. 

"Lets get on our horses and get out of here. These strangers will probably let us know when we've gone far enough. How is Khalad."

"He's allright, seems to be unconcious though" Berit replied. He was already slinging his friend across his saddle, then jumped up behind. Sparhawk placed his own "package" across his saddle and mounted behind her. Talen was helping the other man get up with him. "Let's go after those others" They had come to a stop some distance away, but now seeing them all mounted, they had started running again. Sparhawk and the others chased after them. As they were pulling up just behind them a huge explosion rocked the ground, and the following shock wave threw him from Faran's saddle. 


End file.
